Frank Ocean: 'I'm Glad That I Came Out'

Frank Ocean has declared in a new interview that he is glad that he came out as bisexual.

The rapper revealed in a blog post earlier this month that his first love had been for a man, and his move was greeted with support from the industry.

Now the 24 year old has told The Guardian that he made the revelation for his "own sanity and my ability to feel like I'm living a life where I'm happy when I wake up in the morning, and not with this freakin' boulder on my chest".

And he admitted that he had long planned to come out when he released his current album Channel Orange - because there are lyrics on it which are clearly addressed to a man.

He explained: "I knew that my star was rising, and I knew that if I waited I would always have somebody that I respected be able to encourage me to wait longer, to not say it till who knows when."

Asked if he was worried about a negative reaction, he replied: "People are just afraid of things too much. Afraid of things that don't necessarily merit fear. Me putting Nostalgia out... what's physically going to happen?

"Me saying what I said on my Tumblr last week? Sure, evil exists, extremism exists. Somebody could commit a hate crime and hurt me. But they could do the same just because I'm black. They could do the same just because I'm American.

"Do you just not go outside your house? Do you not drive your car because of the statistics? How else are you limiting your life for fear?"